[[quoteright:300:[[VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_cmenow_preview_1_5872.jpg]]]][[caption-width-right:300:Of course stealthy [[ALoadOfBull minotaur]] assassins exist... [[spoiler:The only reason you never see any is they're just THAT good at hiding!]]]]

A character in an otherwise typical fantasy game/story whose profession seems at odds with their nature or appearance as assumed by tradition or the audience, like a dwarven ranger or an ogre engineer. Sometimes this is for sheer game balance and variety, while other times it's {{lampshade|Hanging}}d as being appropriate if [[ItMakesSenseInContext seen in the right light]]. After all, even if {{Hobbits}} don't make the best warriors, that doesn't mean Hobbit warriors don't exist. ''Somebody's'' gotta protect the Hobbit village, right? Likewise, with the forests you find above and around the Dwarves' mountain halls, it makes sense to have a few guys who know their way around them.

Occasionally this is the reason the PluckyComicRelief seems so inept; it's just misplaced interest in something inappropriate for them.

Compare StereotypeFlip. May stem from KlingonScientistsGetNoRespect.

----!!Examples:

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]* ''Literature/HalfPrince'': There is a reason [[http://www.mangafox.com/manga/1_2_prince/v01/c005/7.html they are called "Odd Squad".]]-->'''Prince:''' An elven warrior... a troublemaker thief... a monstrous beast as a priest... a little {{necromancer}} girl who is scared of skeletons and steals my meatbun...* Cyandog in the ''VideoGame/{{Medabots}}'' anime has a robot body designed for shooting attacks, but his A.I. is derived from a Monkey medal that is intended to use melee attacks. As a result, he suffers from ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy-grade inaccuracy whenever he gets into a fight.** Later he gets a melee weapon and still retains his inaccuracy. It's not his weapon, he's just bad at aiming.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Card Games]]* ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'' has a lot of these...** Including Rhino Monks and a slightly more probable Ogre Samurai.** They also features an [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=97236 Ogre Savant]], with the flavor text, "''He's an oxymoron.''"** Goblin soldiers, in a setting where goblins are generally characterized by total lack of cooperation.** A surprisingly large number of Zombie [[ReligionOfEvil Clerics]]. Similarly a couple zombie Druids.** Death Charmer and Pit Raptor, the improbable worm and bird ''mercenaries''. Not humanoid worm and bird people, just inexplicably for-hire animals. One pays the trainer, possibly?** The Time Spiral block is full of these, by design.* The ''[[TabletopGame/{{Pokemon}} Pokémon Trading Card Game]]'' has a year's worth of these in the Delta Species, Holon Phantoms, and Dragon Frontier expansions. These sets featured "Delta" Pokémon, creatures with mutated types (e.g., a Charizard would become Metal and Lightning instead of Fire and Flying).* In ''TabletopGame/{{Munchkin}}'', your class and race are drawn randomly, so might get combinations that don't make much sense, like Orc Wizard.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Comic Books]]* ''Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles'': The original concept owes a lot to this trope. Turtles aren't exactly renowned either for their speed or agility. So what should we do, obviously? Turn four of them into [[GratuitousNinja Ninja]] Martial Artists! Trained by an intensely honorable and noble ''[[YouDirtyRat rat]]'' of all things.* ''ComicBook/RatQueens'' has Orc Dave, who is a burly brutish-looking [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin orc]]. He's the ''healer'' of the Four Daves.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films -- Animation]]* ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda'':** Po himself is quite a good example of this trope.--->'''Tai Lung:''' He's a panda! You're a PANDA! What are you gonna do, big guy? Sit on me?** There was also a concept for an Elephant Ninja, though that was not used in the movie. It can be seen in the movie's artbook.** In the movie itself, there's also a snake and a praying mantis, who kick all sorts of ass in spite of having no limbs and being three inches tall, respectively.* Rémy of ''WesternAnimation/{{Ratatouille}}''. A [[YouDirtyRat rat]] doesn't seem the most obvious choice for becoming a gourmet chef....* ''WesternAnimation/{{Zootopia}}'' centers around Judy Hopps, a rabbit who's trained to be a police officer. She is constantly underestimated and told she isn't fit for the job, not only because of her size, but because rabbits are typically associated with being timid and meek.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]* ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'':** The average hobbit is generally ''not'' fond of adventuring, burglary, or heroic renown even though their latent abilities imply they'd be especially good at it. Most derivations are based upon the Bagginses (who prefer sneaking and cleverness) or Pippin Took (a more moderate warrior type). Wandering "wild" hobbits are still mentioned in the narration, along with a comment that they may be more common than their civilized Shire cousins might think, but none are actually met throughout the story. They seem to be more like survivalist vagabonds than adventure-seekers, however.** The very plotline of ''Literature/TheHobbit'' is a bunch of dwarves, apparently not much good at anything except fighting or running away, who got in a group to do nothing other than ''sneakily steal treasure from an effectively unfightable dragon''. (In the book, they're not even good fighters -- they don't even have weapons until after they recover the troll treasure, and they certainly don't win a lot of fights.)* Horton from ''Literature/HortonHearsAWho''. The title elephant character must exercise a great deal of delicacy and gracefulness in order to protect a micro universe which he discovers. Same thing with Horton again in ''Literature/HortonHatchesTheEgg''.* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'':** It may be easier to list the cases where race ''matches'' profession on the Discworld. Through the series we see vampire photographers, troll musicians, orc footballers (and bookworms), goblin savants, policemen of every race under the sun and hiding from it, and even a ''girl wizard''.** While ''Discworld'' plays with OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame a lot, they still tend to fall into a lot of the common stereotypes -- hard-working, greedy, serious-minded, dangerous when drunk, etc. Casanunda (a Casanova expy) is a dwarven con artist and dashing swordsman who channels his race's [[OneGenderRace single gender]] into a seducer with hints of AnythingThatMoves.** Dwarfs are almost always miners and smiths, even in Ankh-Morpork, but (aside from the aforementioned Casanunda) there's a dwarf alchemist, a dwarf fashion designer, and a dwarf playwright. (The latter is notable; he's not just ''any'' playwright, he's ''Discworld's equivalent of Shakespeare''.)** There are notably no male Witches. They have a word for such a thing (Warlock) but no-one has ever met one or knows what they look like or even what sound they make.** The implications for employers have even been explored. If you're looking to hire someone for heavy labor you want a Troll or Golem, since both are much stronger and more resilient than the squishier races. On the other hand if you ARE a Troll or Golem you don't have any more reason to ''want'' that kind of job than someone of a different species would. (And as [[Discworld/MakingMoney Gladys]] demonstrates, golems make pretty good secretaries/personal assistants too.)** Chrysoprase, a trollish mob boss is an unusually bright addition to the race.** Mr. Thunderbolt is a troll lawyer and a very well-respected one.* In ''Literature/{{Dragaera}}'', Dragons are known as arrogant warriors who are ultra-ambitious and if angered, are direct (and brutal) about it. Kragar, who was booted out of group, has no ambition, preferring to be a ServileSnarker, and is the epitome of stealthy, being an assassin with a StealthHiBye ability so powerful that it's outside of his control.* In ''Literature/TheWarGods'', the Hradani are akin to Orcs. Even have a Tolkienish history of being a race of High-Men before wizardly twisted them into a race of berserkers. Bazhell, the main character is akin to an Orc Paladin chosen by the god of Justice. His best friend, Brandark, is a Bard and scholar. * ''Literature/TheLegendOfDrizzt'' started as this. Oh, drow are well-suited to fast, stealthy fighting, but when Drizzt was created, rangers in ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' '''had''' to be good-aligned... and up till then you were as likely to find a good demon as a good drow.* Moles in ''Literature/{{Redwall}}'' are stolid, salt-of-the-earth types, specializing in tunneling, cooking and building. As of ''Sable Quean'', we have [[AwesomeMcCoolName Axtel Sturnclaw]], giant-hammer-wielding Bloodwrath-using mole badass.* Discussed in ''Literature/CounselorsAndKings''. [[BigBad Akhlaur]] notes that "they" always said that elves don't make good necromancers... then snarkily observes that "they" obviously never met his very elvish, very necromancer [[TheStarscream Starscream]], [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds Kiva]].* In the ''TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms'' novels there is an Ogre Paladin (whose dying moment of awesome manages to impress Ao the Overgod enough to be the only mortal ever get to see It and have his dying prayer that a dead companion be revived answered) and a recurring dwarf created by R. A. Salvadore that is a Druid.* There are a few Hutt [[WarriorMonk Jedi]] in the ''Franchise/StarWars'' [[Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse Expanded Universe]], which runs rather counter to their reputation as sleazy gangster slugs. At least one of those Hutt Jedi fell to TheDarkSide, though. There was also a Hutt Supreme Chancellor of the Galactic Republic...and while "politician" might not seem such an out-of-place occupation for a sleazy gangster slug, Chancellor Blotus was known for being noble and utterly incorruptible, and one of the Republic's finest leaders in its 25,000 year history.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tabletop Games]]* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'', and most other fantasy roleplaying games, allow players to create all kinds of characters embodying this trope.** An old joke regarding character creation involves an "orc bard", where the player admits he just wanted to be able to hit people with a guitar. The counter to this is that a member of a primitive or outright illiterate race is actually ''more'' likely to maintain a strong song and oral storytelling tradition. It's not called an axe for nothing...** ''WOTC'' had fun with this one April: [[http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/pc/20040401a Humorous PC Portraits]], including a Dwarf Ninja.** One of the prepackaged miniature sets they released has a Halfling Barbarian... which works brilliantly with a couple of the settings that feature Halfling Barbarians as the central example of the race, just to flip common expectations. ''TabletopGame/DarkSun'' has them as cannibals and ''TabletopGame/{{Eberron}}'' has tribes of dinosaur-riding halfling barbarians.** Ogre Mages in nearly any setting embody this trope. There's no point in being big and brutish when you can turn most adventurers into human popsicles.** Bugbears, despite being the biggest and toughest of the goblinoid races, are also quite stealthy.** During one of their web events back in 3rd edition, one of the characters created was a succubus ''paladin''. The backstory they gave her emphasized just how much her life sucked.** The early 3rd Edition book "Hero Builder's Guidebook" set aside a section arguing for this trope, providing ideas on how to present odd race/class combinations to make more memorable characters rather than perfectly optimized murder-hobos. The book provided multiple character concepts for every race/class combo except for those expressly forbidden by the base rules. One example was the aforementioned (half-)orc bard, in this case one that specialized in funerary chants and mourning songs to honor the dead and fallen heroes of the tribe.** Pre-3rd Edition, meanwhile, forcefully averted this trope. In the earliest games, for non-humans race ''was'' class (meaning all elves had the same basic abilities), while in later games like 2nd Edition you had certain classes forbidden from certain races. But for a tiny handful of exceptions that came later, for example, only humans could be paladins. Even some wizard specializations were limited by race, so that while elves could be mages, they couldn't be necromancers (gnomes took it so far that gnome mages could ''only'' be illusionists).** The ''reincarnate'' spell brings a character {{back from the dead}} as a random race, so it's possible to die a half-orc barbarian and be ''reincarnated'' as an elf, gnome, halfling, or kobold.** 3rd edition wasn't as bad about the aversions as 2nd or 1st were, but the racial ability bonus and penalty system certainly gave some (often fairly strong) incentives to avert this trope. For example, half-orcs, with their bonuses to Strength/Constitution and penalties to Intelligence/Charisma, were naturally suited for combat classes but at a notable disadvantage for arcane spellcasting ones.** 4th edition fully embraced this trope, going so far as to abandon the traditional SacredCow of negative racial ability attributes, under the philosophy it was more fun if a certain race was well-suited for a specific set of classes, but could still be quite adequate at anything else it chose. The only races with any specific negative traits are Small-sized ones, who suffer from restricted melee weapon choices and are thusly slightly sub-par when picked for melee-focused classes.** One of the early 4th Edition official figures was a female [[DraconicHumanoid dragonborn]] rogue that wore [[SoMuchForStealth a suit of shiny, golden plate armor]], while dual-wielding a dagger and a hand crossbow.** You can make [[PintSizedPowerhouse a pixie fighter with a 13 or higher in strength at level one]] in the 4th edition game.* ''TabletopGame/{{Hackmaster}}'', mostly a parody of ''AD&D'', is a bit of a send-up of fantasy roleplaying in general.** One subrace for player characters is the ''gnome titan'', a member of a group of gnomes who follow the Gnomish God of War, and are trained from birth to be incredibly bad-ass warriors and battle mages. They still cling to their Cute/Comic Relief origins but in a decidedly twisted sort of way... one racially-specific magic item is the rightly feared ''+3 Gnomish Boots of [[GroinAttack Groin Stomping]]''.** There's also the terrifyingly powerful Pixie Lich, of all the unlikely combinations.* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'': ** Ork Kommandos. Orks are, as a rule, the loudest and least subtle species in the galaxy ([[MoreDakka their word for firepower comes from the sound it makes]]), so of course them having stealth units is regarded as a joke -- in true ''40K'' fashion, a soldier of the [[RedShirtArmy Imperial Guard]] trying to tell his superiors about an encounter with them was executed for making stuff up. Of course, Kommandos are all the more effective at their jobs because no-one thinks they exist. They're considered dangerously deviant even by their fellow Orks. The Kommandos wear camo uniforms, train and even have a conventional chain of command. Exceptionally un-Orky, and only their ability to slaughter their opponents has kept them safe from a preventive set of lobotomies (that said, they're still orks: [[SoMuchForStealth many a raid has been cut short because one yelled "SURPRISE, 'UMIE!" or decided to blow stuff up before they got the target]]).** The Tau are known in the meta-game as the ultimate ranged army, their pulse weapons beating out all other races in terms of sheer firepower and range. Balance therefore dictates that their ranged units suck pickles at melee; their melee attacks are so pitiful they could just be listed as "lolno" and even if that wasn't the case, [[GlassCannon they don't have the constitution to go into melee]]. This is why the Tau's allied races -- the Kroot, the Vespid and Human allies called ''Gue'vesa'' -- have stats that lean towards melee (or at are least ''supposed'' to). So a Tau who not only gears himself towards melee combat over ranged, but actually ''prefers'' it, sounds like a recipe for disaster. The operative word being "sounds". Hello, Commander Farsight...*** To a lesser extent there are also Tau Commanders with the Onager Gauntlet, a Tau version of the PowerFist, and Breacher teams, who aren't ''exactly'' melee specialists, but their guns are terrifyingly good...at [[CloseRangeCombatant incredibly short range]].* ''TabletopGame/WarhammerFantasy'' has Ogre Maneaters, ogres who've survived mercenary service in various armies around the world and kept the dress. Thus you can have a former Imperial soldier, a pirate captain (with a Gnoblar as the parrot) and a ninja. Yes, an ogre ninja.* ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'' all but revels in this. This is especially apparent in the "NPC Codex" {{Sourcebook}}, which gives examples of every class in just about every race.** Their iconic Ranger is in fact a Dwarf.** ''Half-''orcs no longer get a penalty to Charisma, and in fact can get a ''bonus'' to the stat, so half-orcs can actually make pretty good bards.** Their thirteenth Adventure Path, ''Wrath of the Righteous'', has no-doubt resulted in a lot of tiefling paladins and clerics of the setting's good-aligned deities. The coverart of part 1, ''The Worldwound Incursion'', also features a half-orc paladin who is one of the Path's prominent [=NPCs=].* In ''TabletopGame/BattleTech'' units are sorted by weight class and can generally be sorted into the FragileSpeedster light units, JackOfAllStats medium and (possibly LightningBruiser) heavy units, and MightyGlacier Assault units. Most of the time, a light 'Mech is a scout or possibly harasser of some description, and an Assault 'Mech will more often than not carry a weight of weaponry and armor equivalent to the mass of an entire smaller 'Mech. Then there are oddballs like the ''Urbanmech'', a slow-as-molasses light 'Mech with a {{BFG}} and as much armor as it can carry...which isn't much. More iconic is the ''Charger'', which is an Assault-weight scout 'Mech. At 80 tons it should be able to carry more than just five tiny lasers and mount more armor than a medium 'Mech's protection, but it ''moves'' at the speed of a 'Mech 30 tons lighter [[RammingAlwaysWorks and subsequently makes use of what it has]].* One of the characters in an expansion for ''TabletopGame/RedDragonInn'' is Serena the Pious, an orc paladin who was [[RaisedByOrcs Raised By Humans]]. Her [[InTheBlood inherently aggressive, chaotic nature]] is constantly at odds with her attempts to stick to her paladin code, represented by giving her a KarmaMeter that affects (and is affected by) some of her cards and actions.* ''TabletopGame/BleakWorld'' has it so that any class can join any organization, but some organizations were clearly made for a class. Examples include a Natural Mummy (who's racial description states they exist working outside of the Powers That Be) joining the organization, "Agents of the Higher" which works very closely with the Powers That Be. For a more traditional example, it is entirely possible for a Goblin to become a member of the Guardians, which are essentially Paladins.* ''TabletopGame/{{Shadowrun}}'' almost seems to take glee in this. While the non-humans vary a bit in stat caps, almost every role can be done by every race with some creativity and use of the right augmentations, and several official adventures and characters break with racial stereotypes. That said, there are limits to everything.-->[[Blog/ThingsMrWelchIsNoLongerAllowedToDoInAnRPG #1047. If my troll is the smartest character in the party, the entire party is vetoed.]]* The ''TabletopGame/LegendSystem'' has a bit of this, although you can avert it with careful use of track switching and the right feats. For example, elves (+2 to Dexterity and one mental stat of your choice, -2 to Constitution) make extremely poor monks and barbarians, because both of those classes depend on Constitution for their Key Defensive Modifier, and barbarians also need it to determine rage duration. However, one track from another class can be taken for free, and there are two Rogue defensive tracks that let you use either Charisma or Wisdom for your KDM (unless Wisdom was already your Key ''Offensive'' Modifier - you aren't allowed to double-dip), and there's a feat (which anyone can take as their racial bonus feat) which requires multiclassing and lets you pick ''any'' of your tracks and revise every stat mentioned in it to a different one. Meaning that an elf barbarian can put their free-floating mental bonus into Wisdom or Charisma, swap in either "I Am Ten Ninjas" for the former or "Fortune's Friend" for the latter, and take Multiclass Flexibility for their Path of Rage so that rage duration is based on Dexterity rather than Constitution. And so on.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]* The ''VideoGame/BaldursGate'' games, being based on 2nd edition ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'', averts this as explained above. The player's race restricts what class they can choose (gnomes can only be illusionists if they practice magic, only humans can be ThePaladin, etc).** One of the more popular party members from the second game is Mazzy Fentan, who basically exists to poke a somewhat bitter tongue at this by being as close to a paladin as it's possible for a [[{{Hobbits}} Halfling]] to get without actually being a paladin.** In the first game Ardenor Crush, the leader of the hobgoblin mercenary group Chill, is mentioned to be unusually well-spoken and civil for a hobgoblin. [[AllThereInTheManual It doesn't come up in the game]], but actually he was an evil ''human'' fighter, who got killed and magically reincarnated into a hobgoblin.** There may not be any half-orc paladins in this series -- but in the Enhanced Edition re-release, there ''is'' a half-orc ''blackguard'', Dorn Il-Khan, in an edition of the game where the [[BlackKnight blackguard]] was implemented as a class kit (basically, a variant on the vanilla class) of the paladin. And No, this doesn't allow the PLAYER to select this combo. He's such a good example even the game refuses to let you copy it.* Most [=RPGs=] allow players to choose any class/race combination, so it's not really a notable trope for player characters unless there are restrictions that don't make sense. In many cases, the player can create a character who is unplayable or extremely challenging because of conflicting ability bonuses and penalties.* ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' has several class/race combinations that invoke a WillingSuspensionOfDisbelief.** Gnome and goblin characters can be Warriors and Death Knights; the game ignores the problem of how small characters have the same melee reach and running speed as the larger ones. Then again, many bosses are so humongous besides the player characters it hardly seems to matter.** Dwarf Rogues are notoriously rare among players, as dwarves might be crafty and industrious, but they value honesty and openness they're too stocky to look convincing while sneaking. Nevertheless, the possibility exists. Note that the rogue class in ''Warcraft'' encompasses several specialisations in lore; not just sneaking and assassination, but also brawling and fighting dirty, which dwarves know fine.** Draenei and the Tauren however cannot be rogues. Both races have strong cultural mores against deception, they are ''too big'' to be stealth-based combatants (at least the males) and have hooves for feet. Despite this, two Draenei rogues turn up as [=NPCs=] in ''Warlords of Draenor''. A common joke is that there tauren and draenei rogues do exist, they're just very good at what rogues are supposed to do, which is staying hidden. (Stealth animations for them always existed in the game since players can change appearance in a few ways.)** Considering how tall orcs are, and how big and burly the male model is, orc rogues look out of place. Story-wise, however, they've been using subterfuge and assassination since they appeared on Azeroth. The franchise's most iconic rogue is the Half-Orc [[LukeNounverber Garona Halforcen]] (tellingly, a female, with more slender proportions).** The ursine pandaren have the rogue class, despite being not just hefty but downright fat and as honour-bound as the Draenei. They are however very agile, masters of martial arts and their canon rogues are closer to scouts and infiltrators. One could also make the case that they're excellent at sneaking due to their paw-like feet.** Priests fall under this too, not for who can be priests, but because all playable priests can be either holy (healing) or shadow (damage-dealing) whatever their culture's faith. In canon, most Alliance races follow the Light, the Forsaken look to the Forgotten Shadow, and Trolls worship the Loa, who are somewhere in between; yet mechanically there is no distinction between them (there used to be a set of special racial abilities unique to each race, but these were removed in Wrath of the Lich King as they proved impossible to balance and mostly useless).** ''Warlords of Draenor'' brings us Dagg, an Ogre follower for your garrison...who's a ''subtlety rogue''. Ogres are even larger and heftier than the playable races, and aren't often known for their subtlety or stealth. It's implied that Dagg gets around his obvious size issue by pretending to be imprisoned in a cage (when you recruit him outside your garrison, he's actually ''wearing'' the cage in question), and [[ObfuscatingStupidity possibly being more intelligent than he sounds]].** This also applies to professions: night elves are discouraged from learning mining and its related crafting professions (blacksmithing, engineering and jewelcrafting) since their starting zone has no mining nodes (and until Cataclysm, their hub city had no trainers for them). However any character can learn any profession, even though in lore they may be culturally averse to some.* ''VideoGame/{{Warcraft}} II'' has Ogre Magi, who while inferior to the dedicated spellcasters (the Magi and the Death Knight) are capable of the same supporting spellcaster role as the Paladin, while also being an equal in combat.* ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'': There aren't really any surprises in your party: a quarian mechanic, a krogan berserker, an asari biotic... The real surprise is Thane, not in that he is a drell assassin, but in that he was trained by a group of [[StarfishAlien hanar]]. The hanar train drell as assassins specifically because they know how ill-suited they are to the job (poison tentacles notwithstanding).** There's also the InUniverse fictional character of Blasto, a Hanar ''Spectre'' who speaks in parodies of action movie quotes. ("Enkindle THIS!") The Elcor have also put on a production of Hamlet, which seems unintuitive, since Elcor communicate by speaking in monotone and simply announcing their emotion at the beginning of each sentence. No wonder it ended up running 14-hours.*** Elcor are great at reading each other's emotions, so this is more of a subversion... Although a human able to pick up on the nuance would probably still balk at the length.* ''Moria'' prevented this trope. ''VideoGame/{{Angband}}'' permits it, but says they aren't recommended.* ''VideoGame/NetHack'' allows you to play as an orc wizard, apparently because the race is a bit of a {{Scrappy}} among players due to its poor starting equipment. Dwarves in ''[=NetHack=]'' will always fall in this trope. A proper dwarvish role like miner or blacksmith doesn't exist. The only roles dwarves can play are Archeologist, Caveman and Valkyrie. None of these is very dwarvish. Other role/race combinations like elven Ranger or orcish Rogue are more appropriate.* ''VideoGame/AncientDomainsOfMystery'' lets the player mix and match races and classes freely. Note that some combinations (like a Troll Wizard) will be MUCH harder than others. On the other hand, a Troll Healer is considered a very good build for beginners, due to the racial healing rate boost stacking with the Healing skill, as well as obligatory Literacy (most Trolls are too dumb to have this skill and must obtain it through a quest). It helps that Healers are usually pitifully weak, while Trolls are anything but. The only problem with this combination is the enormous [[WizardNeedsFoodBadly food intake]] (luckily, all Trolls start with the Food Preservation skill to slightly mitigate their monstrous appetite).* ''VideoGame/DungeonCrawl'' also allows any combination of race and class. One notable enemy example is Deep Elf Blademasters, as player character Deep Elves are a SquishyWizard race; frail, weak, and horrible at learning combat skills.* ''VideoGame/ArcanumOfSteamworksAndMagickObscura'' has Jormund the dwarf wizard, who, due to being a dwarf, has a natural penalty to his magical aptitude and must expend twice as much energy when casting a spell. There's also Jayna Stiles, a half-elf who has none of her races' natural talent for magic and decided to pursue a career as a technologist healer instead.** The player character can specialize in magic or technology regardless of race. An elf technologist may actually be a decent build depending on which tech schools you specialize in (you can rely on skills elves don't get penalties in), but the doubled mana cost of spells makes it hard to play your dwarf as a pure wizard.* The RPG/RTS hybrid series ''VideoGame/WarlordsBattlecry'' allow the player to combine any race with any class, creating Orcish Tinkers or insectoid Bards.* ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion''** Brodras, a Wood Elf member of the Leyawiin Fighters Guild wears a suit of heavy armor and also offers basic training in the Heavy Armor skill. He even lampshades this trope by saying: "No jokes about the Heavy Armor, eh? Not every Bosmer sneaks around with bows and arrows. I'm as tough and beefy as any Orc. Got it?"** There's an Orc assassin in the Dark Brotherhood. He is hardly sneaky, though: if you ask him to advise on your current target it tends to be "walk up to them and '''hit them with an axe!'''"** Trayvond the Redguard, who, when you first speak to him, lampshades that there aren't many Redguards in the Mage's Guild. * ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim''** Urag gro-Shub, the Orc librarian at the Mages' College.** Also to lesser extent, Nord mages, such as Onmund, Tolfdir, Farengar Secret-Fire, Wuunferth the Unliving and, possibly, a Nord Dragonborn who would happen to choose a Magic-oriented class. Like Orcs and Redguards, most Nords are ProudWarriorRaceGuy and think that magic is for the weak.** However, many of the (ancient Nordic) draugr use magic, and indeed, another Nord character states that the ancient Nords had absolutely no problems using magic-- the disdain and suspicion many Nords have of magic-users is a more recent development. Heck, if you decide you want to go on a crime spree in Whiterun, one of the (Nord!) guards will shoot icicles at you, while all the rest shoot arrows or simply chase you and try to stab you. ** A lesser example would be Legates Fasendil and Sevan Telendas, a High Elf and Dark Elf who wear heavy Legion armor and belong to the "Soldier" class. High Elves are almost always mages, and while Dark Elves are more versatile, they also tend to be mages or thieves/rogues.** There's a (terrible) Orcish bard and a (not terrible) Orcish master chef as targets in the Dark Brotherhood questline and Arnbjorn carries on the legacy of the Orc assassin from Oblivion. He's a Nord as well as a Werewolf.** Falion, the wizard in Morthal whom nobody trusts, is a Redguard ''conjurer.'' Redguards in ''Skyrim'' now start with small bonuses to Destruction and Alteration, but Conjuration is still seen as a wicked art for daedra-worshippers and necromancers. Falion is, inarguably, a necromancer who has dealings with the daedra, but he doesn't seem to be a bad person and will even cure you of vampirism if you ask him to.* Androids in ''VideoGame/PhantasyStarOnline'' cannot use Techniques (PSO's version of magic). However, bored players have made [=FOcasts=] (magic-using Androids) using rare weapons that have Techniques as their special attack. By no means viable on higher difficulties, but when helping out a friend in lower difficulties it can be a fun SelfImposedChallenge.* ''VideoGame/{{Rift}}'', which lacks race/class limitations, has a rogue trainer NPC snarkily [[LampshadeHanging lampshade]] the trope:-->'''Djinaen Donox:''' Some claim that bahmi are too large for proper rogues, but then I stab them.* In ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'', there's a Dwarf you can meet in Orzammar who desperately wants to study at the [[WizardingSchool Circle of Magic]]. In the setting, Dwarves are physically incapable of using any magic, and this is pointed out to her repeatedly, but she is still dead set on studying there even if she can't sling a spell. If you help her the epilogue reveals that her purely academic approach actually advanced knowledge of magic and Lyrium considerably. And in ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition'', this dwarf returns as your arcanist!* ''VideoGame/NeverwinterNights'':** One of the companions in ''Shadows of Undrentide'' is Xanos Messarmos, a half-orc barbarian/sorcerer. Which is actually not that strange as these are both brute-ish classes, although his spellcasting is slightly hindered by half-orcs taking a charisma penalty.** The item "Lyrics of the Lich" was created by Rachzin Pala, who became a bard after his transformation into [[OurLichesAreDifferent a lich]]. Despite the oddity of his career choice, he became very successful through playing particularly mournful dirges at funerals for the rich and powerful.* ''VideoGame/NeverwinterNights2''** ''Storm of Zehir'' has Belueth the Calm, a NeutralEvil aasimar rogue. Aasimar are humans with a good-aligned outsider for an ancestor; they have +2 Wis and Cha, and their favored class is paladin.** Grykk Bannersworn, a half-orc ''paladin'', also from ''Storm of Zehir''.** Gannayev-of-Dreams in ''Mask of the Betrayer'', a hagspawn spirit shaman.* ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'' has nine classes, all with specific purposes, so there tends to be a certain way to play, i.e. the Sniper stays at the back and hidden, the Medic hides behind team-mates and corners, the Heavy barges in, etc. But with a little bit of cleverness and the right weapon loadout, you can play them vastly differently.** CombatMedic: You'll want the Blutsauger or Crusader's Crossbow, the medigun, and the Ubersaw. Don't heal team-mates; just charge right at the enemy, and use another medic in tandem and the build-charge-on-hit Ubersaw to create an infinite chain of invulnerability.** Combat Engie: You'll want the Frontier Justice and/or Widowmaker, and the gunslinger mini-sentry. Instead of turtling behind a sentry nest you'll quickly deposit weak but fast and annoying mini-sentries to distract the enemies and get in their faces. With good aim the widow-maker will give you infinite ammo and no need to re-load, and the Frontier Justice will give you certain crits for every person your mini-sentry kills.** Forward Sniper: Really, anything, though the Huntsman and Jarate are favored, since they are short-to-mid range weapons which are devastating in the right hands. If the Jarate is being used, the Bushwhacka is also popular for its combo crit.** Ninja-Heavy: You'll probably want to equip the Tomislav, Sandvich and Gloves of Running Urgently. The GRU will allow you to flank and quickly show up in places the enemy doesn't expect. The Sandvich will keep you healed when you don't have a medic nearby. And the Tomislav, with its silent spin up, will allow you to pounce on unsuspecting victims when they turn corners.** Support Soldier: The Cow Mangler 6000, Concheror, and Disciplinary Action. The Cow Mangler is both ammo-independent and capable of shutting down engineer buildings, the Concheror allows the soldier to regenerate, and allows him to give his allies a speed boost and heal on attack, while the Disciplinary Action helps others move faster.** Demo-Knight: Give the Demoman the Charge'n Targe and a Sword (the Eyelander is a favorite) and you'll leave him with only his basic grenade launcher, but turn him into a melee force that can close the gap with any other class ridiculously fast, and with the Eyelander giving more speed and health for every enemy he decapitates, a well-played demoknight can become an unholy terror that will OneHitKill anything weaker than a heavy. (In fact, the Charge'n Targe and Eyelander took a lot of criticism for basically redefining the class when they came out among the very first alternate weapons.)* ''VideoGame/GuildWars2'' has no class restrictions between any of its five races, so this tends to happen a lot.** It's possible for the hulking [[FelineFolk Charr]] and [[OurGiantsAreBigger Norn]] to be stealthy thieves. Charr can also be spellcasters, despite that Elementalists led a PathOfInspiration that nearly damned Charr society in the backstory.** The knee-high [[OurGoblinsAreDifferent Asura]] can be just as capable as warriors and [[ThePaladin guardians]] as the taller races.** Anyone can be an engineer, who utilize a variety of guns and steampunk devices... including the [[PlantPeople Sylvari]] and the otherwise technologically-backwards Norn. Nor is it just GameplayAndStorySegregation: Scarlet Briar, the antagonist of living story season 1, is a sylvari engineer lore-wise.* ''VideoGame/EverQuest'' only lets certain races play as certain classes. Only the more intelligent races could be Clerics or spellcasters. Only the Evil or Neutral races could be Necromancers and Shadowknights. Only Humans could be monks (until the first expansion, when the Iksar were introduced.) Only the more primitive races could be shaman (in fact, this was the only class Humans could NOT be.) Despite there being some race/class balance issues (Ogres were physically unstunnable from the front, as well as the strongest race, making them the best Warriors) the game worked all the classes well into each race's lore and culture quite nicely. ''VideoGame/EverQuestII'' did away with these restrictions, allowing any race to be any class. This lead to class/race combos like Ogre Assassins, Ogre Troubadors, Ogre Wizards, Dwarven Illusionists, Troll mages in general, Troll healers in general, Gnome Monks, Dwarf Monks, Halfling Monks, Ratonga Monks, Froglok Monks, Erudite Shaman, Erudite Berserkers, Erudite druids, and High Elf necromancers (after betraying Qeynos) with very little justification in the lore for them to ever be such classes other than the fact that the cataclysms and wars that happened over the last 500 years forced all the other races to flock to the Human cities of Qeynos and Freeport for refuge allowed them to explore new options. Even from a game mechanic standpoint, certain races are certainly better at specific classes than others, but at the end game it becomes a moot point, since stats rewarded from gear allow most players to hit the stat cap and pretty much be on equal footing with everyone else. All the races no longer had inherent traits that made some of them superior as certain classes either. * ''VideoGame/DwarfFortress'': Probably a bug, but very very rarely one of the other civilizations may send you a demon. As a ''diplomat''.[[note]]This is probably due to said civilizations being lead by a demon impersonating the civilization's god, and the civilization deciding to send their "divine" leader as a diplomat.[[/note]]* In ''VideoGame/StarWarsTheOldRepublic'':** This was originally averted for player characters, which only allowed a few species per class. However, the legacy system and cartel market have allowed unlocking species to be played with any class, so you could make a Sith Pureblood Jedi Knight or even a Miraluka Bounty Hunter.** NPC companions originally had assigned roles; among the tank companions were a Jawa, an astromech droid, and an Ewok. The ''Knights of the Fallen Empire'' expansion changed things so any companion could have any role, so you could assign an [[RoboticPsychopath HK assassin droid]] to serve as a healer.* ''[[VideoGame/{{Wizardry}} Wizardry 8]]'' has no class/race restrictions, just stats discouraging certain combinations; sure, Lizardmen have lowered mana regeneration and stats focused on [[DumbMuscle physical fighting]], but that doesn't keep one from making one a spellcaster. There's even a unique item in-game that can only be wielded by a ''fairy ninja.''* The queen of this trope may be Fall-from-Grace from ''VideoGame/PlanescapeTorment''. She is a succubus priestess of Experience and one of the nicest, most reasonable individuals in the game. Her race are AxeCrazy demons who engage in slaughter ForTheEvulz. Her subtype are HornyDevils who rip the souls out of those they tempt and drag them to the Abyss. Grace? She runs the [[PlatonicProstitution Brothel of Slaking Intellectual Lust]] where she houses and educates beautiful women who will spend time with you for a price. The services on hand are esoteric, such as word play, debate, games, and philosophy. None of her girls' bodies are for sale. Finally, she belongs to the Society of Sensation, a group usually stereotyped as vapid hedonists, but Grace is a refined, chaste epicurean who seriously tries to sample all existence so she can learn from it.* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'' has no racial restriction on its classes, meaning that the massive Roegadyn can be casters, and the barely two-foot (if that) tall Lalafell can be Warriors. This isn't just in gameplay either, while there's a predisposition for certain races to be certain classes (Lalafell thaumaturges, Miqo'te archers, Roegadyn marauders), a Lalafell marauder is the Scholar's class partner, and the Marauder's guild's partner is a Roegadyn conjurer.* The ''Videogame/HeroesOfMightAndMagic'' series has Yog, who, despite having a natural talent for magic as a half-genie, abandoned his wizard training at the academies of Bracada in favor of becoming a BarbarianHero.* ''VideoGame/AgeOfWonders3'' introduces a class system in addition to elemental preferences, and each race can be every class. And even the campaign does not shy away from some surprises, such as a Goblin Theocrat, an Elven Rogue, a Draconian Archdruid... and in the DLC we get a Halfling Dreadnaught who comes with her own type of Golem called a Party Robot. * Holly Whyte holds the White Mage asterisk in ''VideoGame/BravelyDefault'' and is as far from the [[WhiteMagicianGirl classical depiction of a female that uses white magic]] as possible, having the personality of a particularly sadistic and capricious {{Dominatrix}}. Even more jarring, if we take into account that her team (Argent Heinkel the KnightInShiningArmor, Barras Lehr the [[DumbMuscle all-brawn-no-brains]] BareFistedMonk and Ominas Crowe the deranged, stuttering pyromaniac of a BlackMage) are practically stereotypical depictions of their respective jobs.* ''VideoGame/DragonQuestVI'' allows every party member to take ranks in every vocation, in any order they choose, and more importantly lets them keep all the spells they learned in that vocation. While it's funny enough to imagine the hulking Carver in mage robes (or healing someone) or the diminutive Nevan as a gladiator, the combat potential is awe-inspiring, allowing for teams of GlassCannon that can revive each other at will, or StoneWalls that take forever to bring to low health only to fully heal themselves in one go...* In ''VideoGame/MasterOfMagic'', a wizard with any color of magic can use any race. However, it's generally agreed that the most broadly-useful color synergy for the rapacious, mana-ridden Dark Elves is Life magic.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Visual Novels]]* ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight''** Archer is a Servant who focuses on swordfighting in spite of his class abilities. Lancer notes the absurdity of this, and wonders [[IKnowYourTrueName what legendary hero Archer is supposed to be]], given his [[ComboPlatterPowers strange mish-mash of powers]] unrelated to archery. WordOfGod states he ''could'' have been the Saber for that Grail War, but [[spoiler:King Arthur/[[GenderFlip Arturia]]]] fits the role so well that any other class would fit her even worse. ** Not that that stops Saber from showing up ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'' as a Lancer and Rider, which both make sense thematically, but both are Saber ALTER (and her vanilla self shows up as another Lancer). And the latter is her acting as Santa! Also as an Assassin under the name Mysterious Heroine X/Z where she is dedicated to wiping out all the Saber look-alikes.*** ''Grand Order'' also features what is probably the least fitting class ever seen for a Servant. Berserkers are raging warriors who get major boosts to their fighting prowess at the cost of their sanity, the class of pure madness and violence. So a lot of people got surprised when ''Florence Nightingale'' showed up in said class, her natural headstrong personality exaggerated into reckless abandon to her task of saving people. While she does still pack a major punch, most of her abilities are dedicated to healing rather than the non-stop brutality one expects from the class.*** While not quite to the same extent, the [[OlderIsBetter original and most powerful Assassin-class]] Servant King Hassan has, despite in fact being an Assassin, an attack sheet more befitting a ''Berserker'', skills that wouldn't be out of place on an Archer, and in-game stats and [[BlackKnight an appearance]] that would make one believe he's a Saber. In-game, the party is quite shocked to realize this guy who looks like he stepped off a Heavy Metal album is actually [[TheDreaded the most feared Assassin in existence]].[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Comics]]* ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'':** Belkar Bitterleaf of the Order of the Stick -- a ChaoticEvil halfling ranger with a level or two of barbarian, making him the deadliest three-foot-tall dagger-wielding [[MemeticMutation Sexy Shoeless God of War]] in the world. He also has fairly poor stats as a ranger, not even having enough Wisdom to cast spells.** A lesser example would be the half-orc ninja Therkla.** Another downplayed example is Durkon Thundershield, Cleric of Thor. Dwarves have a Charisma penalty, which Durkon shares. This makes them a poor choice for the Cleric class, because Charisma modifies Turn Undead checks. Downplayed because Wisdom is the spellcasting stat for Clerics, and Durkon has no deficiency there.* [[Webcomic/{{Yamara}} Yamara Tooke]] [[http://yamara.com/yamaraclassic/index.php?date=2006-05-15 became a barbarian]] before Belkar. Also, the strip contains TooMuchInformation on halflings:-->'''[[http://www.yamara.com/alcott/arcalula.html Arcalula Tooke,]] cyborg halfling:''' And of course, who hasn't heard of the legendary '''Chibi''' -- the halfling Jester/Samurai of Japan?* ''Hereville: The Webcomic''. Mirka is [[http://www.hereville.com/webcomic/ yet another troll-fighting 11-year-old orthodox Jewish schoolgirl.]]* The furry fantasy comic ''[[http://www.furaffinity.net/user/trpeal/ Fight, Cast, or Evade]]'' has Stillwell, a surprisingly light-on-his-feet elephant thief. Also, the trunk comes in handy with [[http://www.furaffinity.net/view/6386664/ pick-pocketing.]]* ''Webcomic/AntiHeroes'' features a female bugbear with a ''Maid'' PrestigeClass (and some [[NinjaMaid levels of rogue]], too). As in, a big, hairy goblinoid in a FrenchMaidOutfit.* ''Webcomic/{{Goblins}}'' is about a squad of non-evil goblin adventurers. Dellyn [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Goblinslayer]], when realizing Thaco has an adventurer class, clearly didn't expect the race known for being "Usually ChaoticEvil" to be a lawful Monk, to say nothing of Big Ears the LawfulGood {{Paladin}}.* In [[http://thepunchlineismachismo.com/archives/comic/almost-a-true-story this]] strip from ''Webcomic/ManlyGuysDoingManlyThings'', Jared desperately wants to play an elephant centaur rogue. The next strip has him refusing to do anything other than steal chickens, despite the [=GMs=] many objections, with a nice image of said elephant centaur rogue in action in the first panel. [[WordOfGod Coelasquid]] notes in her notes that she had tried the very thing Jared did (except it was a bison centaur). While her DM talked her into becoming a ranger instead, she figured Jared would stick to his guns.* In ''Webcomic/ByTheBook'' the original main characters are a goblin, an orc, and a kobold who find a Player's Handbook and decide to become adventurers. The goblin wants to be a fighter and the orc wants to be a social rogue, despite their racial penalties to strength and charisma respectively. While the kobold picks wizard, no advantage or disadvantage there, just unusual as his favored class is sorcerer.* In ''Webcomic/{{Prequel}}'', a Webcomic set in the world of (and a week before) ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion Oblivion]]'', the main character Katia is a [[CatFolk Khajiit]] born under [[FictionalZodiac the sign of the Atronach]] who is trying to become a mage. Being an Atronach means that she doesn't naturally regenerate magicka, but has to absorb it from places like enemy attacks, healing spells or potions, and being a Khajiit puts a -10 Willpower penalty on her stats. * In [[http://www.awkwardzombie.com/index.php?page=0&comic=060313 one strip]] of ''Webcomic/AwkwardZombie'', Katie-as-[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Robin]] gets a kick out of reclassing every unit who could possibly be a [[ChurchMilitant War Cleric]] into one, including [[SquishyWizard Miriel]], who has no physical prowess and can't even lift [[AnAxeToGrind the axe]] she's been given as her new weapon. Also featured: mage!Virion, (no magic prowess), and Wyvern Rider!Nowi (her ''also'' being a dragon makes her extra weak to wind attacks). The next comic also shows off knight!Tharja (doesn't let her exploit her strong magic prowess) and fighter!Gaius (lousy defense for a front line combatant).* ''Webcomic/DanAndMabsFurryAdventures'' has Agent Chazore, of the best spies of a powerful city-state, who happens to be a winged demon with rainbow-coloured fur.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Original]]* The French MP3 saga ''AudioPlay/LeDonjonDeNaheulbeuk'' gives us a banjo-playing orc and a guitar-playing ogre. But then, this is a fantasy setting which runs on the [[ThePowerOfRock Power of World Music with wacky lyrics]], so....* In one of his ''WebVideo/CounterMonkey'' segments, [[WebVideo/TheSpoonyExperiment Spoony]] talks about a character that had this phenomenon: a half-orc thief. When asked the obvious question of how a half-orc, a notoriously unstealthy race, could steal anything from anyone... [[CrowningMomentOfFunny the half-orc bonks the offender in the head with a club and loots him while he's knocked out.]] Spoony cracks [[RunningGag he's not that kind of thief]] -- he may be of the thief class, but he's roleplaying it more as a brute thug.* ''WebVideo/JourneyQuest'' features an orc ''archeologist''... who proves to be rather brillant. Then again, the orcs of this world seem to be a bit more civilized than average. (Notably, they respect the rule that bards have immunity, since humans are expected to reciprocate for orcish bards.)* Played with by the race/class combinations in ''WebVideo/CriticalRole'', which seem a little odd for 5th Edition D&D. Most notably, Keyleth and Scanlan. Keyleth is a half-elf druid; half-elves get a +2 to Charisma, but druids cast with Wisdom, and Keyleth's total Charisma modifier is actually ''negative'' for most of the show. Scanlan the gnome bard also counts for the same reason, as gnomes get an Intelligence boost, but bards cast with Charisma. However, the group was originally playing in ''Pathfinder'', where those race/class combos make a lot more sense (half-elves get no bonuses or penalties to their stats, and gnomes get a Charisma boost). They only seem like odd choices if you don't know that the group played in ''Pathfinder'' first.** It probably helps that the game isn't run with a standard array of stats or point buy, but with a very generous rolling method (4d6, drop the lowest dice, and if the sum total of the rolled stats is below 70, roll again), which encourages unusual builds as a strong roll makes up for a lack of bonus in that stat.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'':** Fluttershy, whose special talent is being a FriendToAllLivingThings. This is very unusual because Fluttershy is a pegasus pony. Earth ponies have a stronger connection with nature than unicorn ponies (who are spellcasters) or pegasus ponies (who can fly and control the weather) so it would make more sense for a pony talented with handling animals to be an earth pony.** Also happens in the episode "Magical Mystery Cure" where five of the Mane Six get their cutie marks switch around, causing them to each think that their special talent is something they are unsuited for. Rainbow Dash, who is also a pegasus pony, gets Fluttershy's cutie mark and fails horribly trying to handle animals. Meanwhile Rarity, who is a unicorn, gets Rainbow Dash's cutie mark and attempts weather control using magic. Note that unicorns can control the weather and do it just fine, but the problem is Rarity's obsession with style and appearance over functionality -- it is a character-specific problem and not a species one.** Another thing to note is that Rarity seems to be a physical fighter despite being a unicorn. Although she does not do combat very often, when she does she seems to favor attacking physically rather than with magic, though she does frequently use magic for non-combat tasks. Judging by the flying kick she does in one episode, she must know some martial arts. This possibly can be explained by the fact that most unicorns are limited to only a few types of spells for mundane tasks related to their special talent (and Rarity's special talent isn't combat), though it is not clear how strict this limit is.*** Rarity may have gotten this from her father, also a unicorn, but whose Cutie Mark is in American football (or its Equestrian equivalent). You wouldn't expect a unicorn to specialize in such a contact-heavy sport, but there he is.[[/folder]]----